Back in 2005, sometimes pop star and golden shower lover Ricky Martin told Barbara Walters, “I think that sexuality is something that each individual should deal with in their own way. And that’s all I have to say about that.” It certainly didn’t help all that gay speculation! Four years later, it appears Martin, who’s been out of the public eye for a bit, doesn’t really care.
He tells Spanish-language TV Aqui magazine that “‘his heart could belong to a woman or a man.” Of course his publicist could always backtrack and say he was referring to his two twin baby boys (born via surrogate).
Prof. O. G. Whataschnozell
Don’t worry Ricky. I laughed at you before and will continue to laugh at you in the future.
Zreveals
He is out there anyway! He doesn’t need to!
jason
The terms “gay” and “straight” are largely useless these days. They’ve become politically correct categories. It’s like having to declare your political affiliation before you can enter the room.
Personally, I find it distressing. While it is true that we in the GLBT community have needed to fight for our rights under the “gay rights” banner, the simple truth is that sexuality is not as polarized as the activists would have you believe. Most men are located on a continuum between exclusively gay and exclusively straight.
It’s these men that need looking after as they don’t really have much support.
ADizle
Actually, he said (in Spanish and in response to the question “to whom belongs Ricky Martin’s heart?”): “Ricky Martin’s heart? Look, um, whether (my heart) has or does not have a (male or female) owner I’ve never talked about that topic, so yeah…”
So, it’s not exactly saying it could have a male or female owner, but rather an outright refusal to address the question. In fact, by saying “dueño o dueña”, adding dueña as a qualifying statement or afterthought to the initial phrase “(male) owner” may have been his way of saying that his heart does not have a male owner.
He’s an Anderson Cooper when it comes to these things. And if he hasn’t said it by now, the likelihood is that he won’t ever declare his sexual identity.
HayYall
He’s still smoking hot.
Marius
@HayYall:
Smoking hot. Agreed.
Could this ambiguous statement be as step toward his way out?
At least I haven’t seen any stories of him dating women as used to be the case.
osocubano
If he expects to sell any records in Latin America, he’ll keep the straights guessing forever.
Kid A
@jason: What Jason said. Also, since when is publicly saying that you’re bi “almost” coming out?
stephan
Its hard to be gay in the latino world. Most of my latinos brothers and sisters are catholics who don’t believe in gay marriage. Leave this guy alone. I love his music’
Bitch, please!
I think he is hotter than a jalopeno. But like many of us, the spanish speaking population, at least the guys I spoke to, call him a pinche maricon (sp?). So what is the point of keeping that sham going? He knows it, we know it, so why can’ we all know it together?
Captain Freedom
This article is one decade too late
Fitz
You know– he could have grown a pair and made his life count for something. Coming out as an expired pop star isn’t very impressive.
Cam
@jason: You said “The terms “gay” and “straight” are largely useless these days. They’ve become politically correct categories. It’s like having to declare your political affiliation before you can enter the room.”
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Oh give me a break. As long as there are people that want to sleep with their own sex, and people that want to sleep with the opposit sex those terms are not useless. Additionally, as long as people are using our sexuality as a way to descriminate against us we sure as hell better be defending our rights rather than quibbling about the “Evils of labeling”
Cam
Oh, and as for Ricky Martin….this mirrors the Clay Aiken issue almost exactly. i.e. nobody is surprised, and your career is well past it’s prine now so who cares.
MB
I can’t help noticing he’s coming out AFTER Lambert.
Marius
I dunno, Ricky singing “He bangs” probably won’t happen.
bobito
@MB: no, he’s not – he’s not really ‘coming out’.
That being said, a person’s ‘out’-ness and fame don’t always coincide. It’s up to each individual to decide if the drawbacks to being out will outweigh the advantages. Some of them choose to take the risk of being open about their sexuality at the height of their fame and then bewail the fact that their out-ness ruined their shot at superstardom, like Rupert. Others wait until their fame is clearly waning, and outing one’s self seems to be the only way to generate any media attention, like… well, there’s a big enough list, take your pick.
Whup-ass Master
Dear Ricky:
You hairdo has done all your coming out for you.
xox
galefan2004
Who is Ricky Martin? *laughs*
Pete
@osocubano: Have you ever heard of Juan Gabriel? He’s gay and incredibly popular throughout Latin America. No one cares because his songs are incredible. I doubt people would care about Ricky Martin since most of them already assume he’s gay. He basically came out when he had a surrogate carry his children as a single father. C’mon!
mikeandrewsdantescove
Ricky Martin is sexy and we would love it if he came out.
Mike
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QhZPT9dqm4
Lakas
In some pictures of him singing, you’ll notice a sparkly thing in his mouth only to realize it’s a goddamn rhinestoned purse waiting to fall out.
Anne Marie
Actually, an acquaintance of mine in Colorado knows for a fact he dated a real live chick – who got pregnant. She was friends with her. So I know he’s bi. So…no big deal. He appreciates hot men AND women. Some people do.
Fitz
It must be exhausting to have your sexuality suspect at 37. That’s absurd. Puer Eternis, so cruel.
princedeligne
He hasn’t said he’s gay for a few reasons. One, he is under contract with a record lable. They may have told him not to. He’s not going to mess up a multi million dollar paycheck. Secondly, he lives in Puerto Rico, a very conservative island country the size of CT. he doesn’t live in Chelsea.Thirdly, while his 15 minutes in the states were over some time ago he still has obligations in Latin America and is still a big draw there. Give the guy a break!
7SnowyNights
A Mexican pop star came out in 2007 after photos of his Canada wedding were leaked. The couple divorced this month, and the singer is in therapy. There’s an article about it on Yahoo en Español. If you can understand Spanish, I’d recommend you read the comments. The Latin American community is extremely Catholic and conservative, and most Hispanics outside of the US find homosexuality a horrendous evil and a deviation of “God’s plan.”
http://new.e1.music.yahoo.com/blogs/elcapitanisindahouse/20487/christian-chvez-en-terapia-para-superar-su-divorcio/
If Ricky Martin comes out, there’s no way anyone could overstate the backlash that would follow. Until he’s completely certain that he will be received with open arms, he should probably keep his personal life on the DL.
That being said, my dad’s met him a few times through work and yeah, it’s not a matter of “is he?” with him.
Manny
Has any pop star ever recovered their career after coming out? I can’t think of a single one that is back to where they were before. Not even Elton John.
Fitz
@Manny: In fairness, Elton also got sober. And no one survives that!
Indeed!
7, the article was meh, but the comments really speak about what the spanish-speaking community is thinking when it comes to gays (regardless of how famous they are). Of course, if anyone read the comments on a Yahoo! article today (in English), they were just a hateful. I’m telling you, folks, THOSE are the people we need to be reaching. That’s the vast sea of ignorant, fearful voters that keep voting us down. Until we change that ignorance, we’ll still be second-class freaks to the rest of the world.
J. Clarence
I suppose he could just be bisexual and just like sex regardless of whom he’s having sex with. However, one thing that seems clear is that this guy is not straight, but we get why he’s trying to keep it under wraps. It’s cool. Marlon Brando got away with it, so should Ricky.
We shouldn’t be rushing a guy to reveal what is clearly a very personal matter for him and his career, unless he’s Republican and has a history of stabbing Queer people in the back from the closet.
Bitch, please!
@MANNY & Fitz: Are you kidding me? Elton was behind two highly successful musicals–Aida and Billy Elliot. How many records did he sell, again, after he rehashed “Candle in the Wind” after Princess Di? His shows still draw HUGE crowds internationally. What about K.D. Lang when she was at the height of her acreer as an out and proud lesbian? For that matter, what about Melissa Ethridge? You two must live pretty far from everything!
Bitch, please!
***height of her CAREER***
Jaxson67
was Ricky ever in the closet? We should get over this whole closet/ labels thing. Who cares? If we still go on about the closet doesn’t that strengthen the lock on the closet door, general society see it as something scandalous. I think Ricky being coy and nonchalant about it is a good thing. I have never had to come out to anyone that I was gay, I just am! Maybe ricky is just ricky and that is enough for him, if he announced it to the world I dont see that anyone would be surprised or really care. Look at his foundation and the work that it does for the worlds vulnerable children.
go Ricky Go Ricky
osocubano
@Pete:
Yes, Pete, I know who Juan Gabriel is, and as you pointed out, his songs are incredible. Maybe that’s the secret. He appeals to everyone, not just teeny boppers, like Ricky Martin does.
Let’s not forget he was a member of Menudo…
jason
Manny,
You make a fascinating point about whether any male pop singer has recovered his career after coming out.
The fact is that, in America, there is a bias against male homosexuality and male bisexuality. I say “male” because this bias does not exist against the female as much as it does against the male.
It’s a form of pro-female, anti-male political correctness. The people who are responsible for this correctness are liberals. Liberal organizations have always glamorized female bisexuality at the expense of male bisexuality.
From Playboy to MTV to Rolling Stone magazine to the porn industry, female bisexuality is considered “hot” and is incorporated into the mainstream. Male bisexuality, on the other hand, gets the silent treatment at best.
jason
It’s called the bisexual double standard. A female singer can sing “I Kissed A Girl” and radio will play it. A male singer who attempted to sing “I Kissed A Boy” would be shouted down and called “gay”.
How much more proof do you need that liberals suck?
Manny
@Bitch, please!: Besides Candle In The Wind, over a decade ago and a remake, when was the last time Elton had a new song on the radio? When has any openly gay male had a new song on mainstream radio?
dontblamemeivotedforhillary
………..he woke up in New York City!
Cam
@Anne Marie: You said “Actually, an acquaintance of mine in Colorado knows for a fact he dated a real live chick – who got pregnant. She was friends with her. So I know he’s bi. So…no big deal. He appreciates hot men AND women. Some people do.”
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Typical B.S. with all the gay rumors swirling around, if Ricky Martin had EVER been on a date with a woman they would have been sending pictures of the two of them together to every magazine in the world. When the rumors really started a few years ago some woman came out of the woodwork, put up in interviews by his press team claiming that they had previously dated and that he was so hot in bed. Then his press team backed off when some of the magazines asked why somebody like Ricky Martin, who had been famous since around the age of about 13, and who was claiming to ahve dated this woman for several years…had no pictures of them together. Needless to say that woman gave no more interviews and his publicist kind of gave up fighting the rumors.
Cam
@Manny: Hi Manny,
your point is well taken, and I wish I could come up with more than these few…but After Elton John came out these are some of his susequent releases….
In 1980 he was back with the release of 21 at 33, which featured the Top 10 single “Little Jeannie”. In ’81 he had a hit with the song “Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)”, his tribute to Lennon. The album it was on, Jump Up, went gold. Elton would catch fire one more time with the release of 1983’s To Low For Zero which included the MTV hit “I’m Still Standing” and Top Ten single “I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues”.
Additionally, the Pet Shop Boys had a few hits as did Erasure and Bronski Beat after they were out (Was the guy from Bronski Beat ever In?) But a few exceptions don’t change the fact that you are pretty much right on the money.